Cheek By Jowl’s Winter’s Tale to be screened

Published March 14, 2017

Following the successful screenings of Measure for Measure and Ubu Roi, Cheek by Jowl have announced there will be a screening of their latest production of The Winter’s Tale, live from the Barbican Centre on 19 April at 7.30pm.

The production is currently on an international tour ahead of performances at the Barbican, where it opens on 6 April, with previews from 5 April, and runs until 22 April.

As well as being screened live to Cheek by Jowl’s website, the company are partnering with BBC Arts Digital, Spain’s El País, France’s Télérama and The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. In a first for the company, the production will be available worldwide via these sites, and screened in English, French and Spanish (subtitled), and will also be available with access subtitles. As well as being available to watch live, the production will be available on demand through Cheek by Jowl’s website until midnight on 7 May.

This multi-camera screening is made possible due to the support of the Barbican Centre, and funding from The Space, Arts Council England and the BBC, ensuring the widest possible audience for the work.

One of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, The Winter’s Tale, though written at the same period as The Tempest, smashes all the rules that The Tempest follows. Unity of time, place and action are hurled aside as the action ranges across Europe, from court to country, from high tragedy to low comedy, across a time span of sixteen years.

The Winter’s Tale tells of a delusional and paranoid king who tears his family apart. But this is the new Shakespeare, after he completed his great tragedies, and the tough struggle for redemption yields flickers of hope. Initial darkness gives way to joy as Time leads the characters to a shattering conclusion…

Declan Donnellan directs The Winter’s Tale. He is joint founder of Cheek by Jowl with Nick Ormerod. Donnellan has directed productions for the National, the RSC, the Avignon, Edinburgh and Salzburg Festivals and has received awards in Moscow, Paris, New York and London, including three Laurence Olivier Awards. In France he was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and this year was presented with the Golden Lion of Venice for Lifetime Achievement. In opera he has directed Bryn Terfel, in dance, the Bolshoi Ballet and in film Kristin Scott-Thomas, Robert Pattinson and Uma Thurman.

Cheek by Jowl was formed in 1981 by Joint Artistic Directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod. An international company, they stage work in three languages – Russian, French and English. The company has performed in over 400 cities in over 40 countries, spanning six continents and has received numerous international awards. They are Artistic Associate of the Barbican, London.